Anne Hathaway went through a dramatic change for her role in the upcoming "Les Miserables." The actress not only cut her hair, but also went on what she called an "obsessive" diet in order to lose the proper amount of weight for the role.

In order to lose the weight, Hathaway went on a diet of two squares of dried oatmeal per day, losing 24 pounds by the end of the film shoot. Hathaway told Vogue magazine she "had to be obsessive about it- the idea was to look near death. Looking back on the whole experience – and I don't judge it any way – it was definitely a little nuts."

Hathaway's character, Fantine, is an unwed mother whose life revolves around her daughter. Fantine sends her daughter to live with people she thinks will take good care of her, but they instead use her to exploit Fantine and keep her in a life of poverty. Part of the reason Hathaway had to lose weight was to show just how desperate Fantine was to take care of her daughter.

Hathaway's Fantine also cuts off her hair and sells it in order to earn money to pay for her daughter's care. As a line in the Victor Hugo novel states: "My child is no longer cold, I have clothed her with my hair."

By the time the movie wrapped, Hathaway said she was "in such a state of deprivation – physical and emotional. When I got home, I couldn't react to the chaos of the world without being overwhelmed. It took me weeks 'til I felt like myself again."

"The first time I really threw everything into a part, which was when I did 'Rachel Getting Married,' there was no one waiting for me when I got back. This time, Adam (her husband) was there. He gets what I do and who I am and supports me in it, and that's pretty awesome," Hathaway added.